There’s no doubt that a large part of Apple’s success in recent years comes from its strong retail presence, which consists of more than 400 stand-alone stores. As Samsung works to usurp Apple in every way possible, they’re going to need ways to let more folks try out their products if they want to continue lure consumers away from the competition.

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To that end, Samsung already has a growing brick-and-mortar retail presence made up of roughly 1000 Samsung Experience shops, found within many Best Buy locations. Additionally Samsung has a few stand-alone stores throughout the globe, and occasionally the Korean giant even uses pop-up stores in locations such as major malls.

Could Samsung push even harder into the brick-and-mortar retail space? If hiring a former senior Apple store designer is any indication, then we’d say yes.

A stand-alone Samsung store would likely focus on a mixture of Samsung products including smartphones, tablets, computers, televisions and even appliances.

According to a new report originating from The Information, Samsung has now hired designer Tim Gudgel to help the company amp up its retail presence. Interestingly enough, this is reportedly the second Apple designer that Samsung has hired.

The first designer was Michael Forrest, who is said to have been hired earlier this year in order to begin working on a plan to create a retail experience for Samsung Galaxy products.

Of course hiring two Apple designers doesn’t mean that Samsung is ready to jump into the stand-alone retail business just yet. More than likely the plan is to use Gudgel and Forrest’s talents to optimize their existing retail structure, while brainstorming a possible expansion strategy.

If Samsung does decide to move forward with Apple-like stores of its own, what exactly can we expect? Only Samsung knows for sure, but we imagine such a store would focus on a mixture of Samsung products including smartphones, tablets, computers, televisions and even appliances.

Basically we’re talking about the Samsung Experience store concept, but blown up to much larger proportions. We can also expect a Samsung store to feature its own specialists that can demonstrate various Samsung products and guide customers through the buying process.

Keep in mind that Samsung has yet to confirm their retail expansion plans, so take all of this with a grain of salt. Still, it doesn’t seem crazy to think that Samsung would finally move forward with such a plan.

What do you think of the idea of Samsung stand-alone stores, a good move or is the company better off focusing on their existing Samsung Experience mini-stores and pop-up locations?